The Mandalorian The Music of The Mandalorian

I came here to say that this triplet:

1. A Friend
2. Open The Door
3. Come With Me

Is one of the most beautiful and haunting mini compilations I have ever heard.

Perhaps one of the most iconic sequences in all of Star Wars, the last 15 minutes of the Season 2 finale in "The Mandalorian", begins with "A Friend" a dark and mysterious theme which is accompanied by a dark and mysterious figure with a green lightsaber. This piece of music stands like a giant at a little less than 4 minutes, is one of the most cinematic compositions in Ludwig Goransson's contributions to Star Wars, and sets the tone perfectly for the short sequence where Luke Skywalker, arguably the Greatest Jedi that ever lived, cuts his way through soulless machines. And the music encapsulates that, as it also has a technocratic vibe fused with the cinematic approach.

Then the elevator door opens and "Open The Door" accompanies the most heartfelt moment in both seasons of the Mandalorian. Luke's reveal, followed by Grogu's "cuter than my high school love" reluctance to let go of Din Djarin, accompanied by R2's quirky entrance, Luke's somber affection and Din's tears. A truly magnificent piece, a calm strength, and like the previous track, as cinematic as Goransson has ever been. Proving that not only can he bring something fresh and new to the Star Wars musical plane, but that he can replace John Williams without any doubt if needed. The last minute of "Open The Door" is for me an emotional crescento and the zenith of the entire show so far, as it accompanies Grogu looking back at Din Djarin as he's walking away on Luke's shoulder. At 4:15 is when I break, when I become one with the music, and one with The Force. What a musical genius.

And as if this wasn't enough, the end credits appear and "Come With Me" starts playing and what better way to wipe those virtual tears from our face. For the first time after 16 chapters, we have the privilege of listening to a classical symphonic version of the so familiar and beloved Mandalorian theme by now. Music truly from a different galaxy. I will say this and I might receive some reactions about it, but there is absolutely not a single musical note in "Come With Me" that Mozart and Beethoven wouldn't have loved to have composed. It takes less than 3 minutes for the perfect epilogue to a season and a soundtrack that have been absolutely fantastic.

With this trilogy of songs, for me Ludwig Goransson raised the stakes to a seemingly insurmountable level and in the future we will be watching his career with great interest. I should be working right now, but I decided to spend 10 minutes to type all of that because why not.

 

The first time was in Chapter 7, though that one's more brass-focused. "Come With Me" uses, I think, the same arrangement as the first ninety seconds of "Ahsoka Lives" (another beautiful piece).

 

Yes, also one of my favorites.... it reminds me of the sense of catharsis you get at the Ewok village after the Empire is destroyed in ROTJ.
But this time it was the town being saved by Ahsoka and Din Djarin. "The Jedi" is a self contained movie in a way. I love it.

 

True, though I think there's also a bittersweet quality to that arrangement of the theme that I think @Bor Mullet alluded to, and that fits the end of The Rescue as well.

Speaking of The Jedi, I was just listening to this track again, and I think it may have a sneaky "Ahsoka screech", in the background at about 7:12 (I set this a little before that point).

 

They actually did an orchestrated version in the outro of episode 2, and i think it's the most rousing version.

 

My current favourite...

 

In my opinion, Ludwig Goransson truly outdid himself with the soundtrack this second season. His ability to take the Mandalorian theme (motif) and play with it in terms of key and instrumentation is truly outstanding. He was really able to articulate the change in Mando's character by doing this. I particularly liked the way he played with it in The Believer which I found very striking. Similarly, loved the ending music of the Ahsoka episode, and how they played with the instrumentation, almost chamber music like. Of course, Open the Door was excellent. The musical build up as Grogu left with Luke while Din looked on was emotional and beautiful. I probably have more to say about other parts of the soundtrack, but these are the ones that resonated with me. Would not be surprised if Goransson will walk away with another Emmy (at least, I hope so.)

 

My favorite track so far. Boba's theme is fire.

 

This awesome post is worth a few dozens 'likes' if I could give them.

 

Boba Fett’s theme in Mando is one of the most badass pieces of music ever put on screen.

 

Ship O Hoj, Mandalorians is amazing.

 

Sure is. Second best track of the season, after Capture the Flag.

 

wrong page!

 

Ludwig didn't have to go THAT hard. But he did that. He did that for us.

 

I have had that recommended to me several times clicked it every time

 

Haven't seen much discussion about this, maybe because its at the end of the episode, but Rick Famuyiwa very intentionally closed out episode 23 with the same credits track as Episode 7. We get the final shot of Paz Vizsla post mortem that calls back to the final shot of Kulill after his death in Season 1, with the irony of Kulill being a small person making a big impact and Paz was a very large person but also going out with a large impact. And considering the previous use was at the start of the series before the events of the past couple of years (pick your poison, ie the pandemic) , it kind of hits the emotions harder to hear it reprised. Not to mention this was also the penultimate episode to its respective season, as was Episode 7.

Music is great.

 

Loved the music in the last scene. Reminds me of a lot of music in SWTOR.

 

There's probably a kajillion covers of the Mando theme, but IMO this one is really interesting and good.